A/HRC/4/19/Add.2 page 5 I. GENERAL INFORMATION A. Linguistic and religious composition 8. The Swiss Confederation is a multicultural country with four national languages: German (spoken by 63.7 per cent of the population), French (20.4 per cent), Italian (6.5 per cent) and Rumantsch (0.5 per cent).1 9. Catholicism and Protestantism are the two traditional religions in Switzerland and, according to the latest federal census in 2000, represent 39.98 per cent and 46.32 per cent of the Swiss population, respectively. 10. According to the 2000 federal census, there are 310,807 Muslims in Switzerland; most of them are nationals of the former Yugoslavia or Turks; Arabic speakers account for only 5.6 per cent of the Muslims in Switzerland. The Muslim population is more concentrated in predominantly urban cantons than in mountainous or rural cantons.2 Of the total number of Muslims in Switzerland, 11.75 per cent have Swiss nationality. The census also indicates that 0.4 per cent of the population is Hindu, 0.3 per cent Buddhist and 0.2 per cent Jewish. B. Distinctive features of the Swiss federal system 11. The Swiss political structure is composed of three levels: the commune, the canton and the Confederation. Switzerland has approximately 2,800 communes in 26 cantons and semi-cantons. Each canton has its own constitution, parliament and courts, and has broad powers, particularly in the areas of public education, health, the judicial system and security. 12. One of the distinctive features of Swiss democracy is that it is direct, in that the people monitor their elected officials on a continuous basis. In fact, the electorate has two instruments that enable it to take action on a measure decided by the State: popular referendums, which may be optional or mandatory, and popular initiatives. The optional referendum makes it possible to question a law adopted by the Federal Assembly. Referendums are mandatory in the cases enumerated in the Federal Constitution. Popular initiatives at the federal level enable a citizens’ committee to propose amendments to the Federal Constitution. 13. The Federal Council is the executive organ of the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of seven members, elected or re-elected for a four-year term, renewable by the 1 2 Source: EUREL, http://eurel.u-strasbg.fr/EN/index.php. Vie musulmane en Suisse: Profils identitaires, demandes et perceptions des musulmans en Suisse, report prepared by the Group of Researchers on Islam in Switzerland (GRIS), Documentation on Integration Policy, Bern, Federal Commission for Foreigners, 2005, p. 5.